


Peace by Shattered Piece

by them1ghtypen



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Back from the Island, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Isla Nublar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-08-30 22:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8551132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/them1ghtypen/pseuds/them1ghtypen
Summary: Owen was the only person she’d ever met to walk the tightrope between absolute chaos and utter self-control. But as she stared at him sitting on the couch in the morning sunlight, she knew none of that mattered now.Chapter 4: Epilogue





	1. Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I know there were plot holes in Jurassic World, but I still loved the story and the characters – especially Owen and Claire. They had chemistry but their romance was directed in a believable way that still left a lot of room for the action. Which I totally appreciated, and am excited to see what the sequel holds. In the meantime – here’s a JW Clowen fic for you all. 
> 
> Started: 12/9/15
> 
> Finished: 12/10/15
> 
> Edited: 12/24/15

_Insert One:_

Christmas

-00-

Claire had always believed herself unflappable. When she and Karen were younger it had always been Claire to comfort her sister. She had been steady, controlled, immovable (although stubborn was probably a more apt word) and had been able to intimidate people with nothing more than a calculated look.

Yet when her path had crossed Owen Grady’s, all of her faltered. She had never met someone who could tease her mercilessly, eyes twinkling, and the next be as focused as the eye of a hurricane.

After one failed date, she hadn’t wanted to be near him. Even though the date really hadn’t been the worst one she’d ever had, it was the affect his personality had on her. She would have never admitted it, but the whirlwind of his character scared her. It upset her balance, strained the tethers of her control. He was reserved, kind and polite when needed.

He was the only person she’d ever met to walk the tightrope between absolute chaos and utter self-control. And that was why she never wanted to get to know him – she had a feeling that if she did, he would shatter everything she had ever known.

Claire hadn’t purposefully been prickly during their first date, but she couldn’t help it. She hadn’t thought much of it, but when Owen had showed up in board shorts she’d realized she had hoped the more controlled side of him would have been present. But he drank tequila, laughed loudly, and what was worse tried to get her to make an idiot of herself and _dance_. And even more horrible than that was she had wanted to participate.

So she simply gave the excuse that she never wanted a second date. But she knew it wasn’t true. It was only a matter of control, and she didn’t want to relinquish it with _anything_. 

But as she stared at him sitting on the couch in the morning sunlight, she knew none of that mattered now. Indominus had crushed all of her previous notions of animals and life and even people. She’d been broken, and all that was left was to pick up the pieces. There were still plenty of things that she wanted to control, but it was getting easier letting things go and running their course.

It had been two years since the incident in Costa Rica, yet that whole time she had been living with Owen. Before the Indominus, she never would have dreamed of living with someone whether she was in a relationship or not. It wasn’t because of any old fashioned notion – she was simply extremely particular about how she kept her place, and she did not want to have someone else leaving dishes out, crumbs on the floor and spilling food on the couches. Besides, after spending the majority of her day around people and schmoozing with the higher-ups, she wanted to kick up her feet and watch Cold Case Files.

With Indominus’ escape, the reins were forcibly ripped away from her hands, leaving her adrift with nowhere to go. So when Owen had offered her a space in his apartment, she had agreed. They had entered into a relationship shortly after their return to the States.

Claire smiled as she thought of those first six months. Owen hadn’t even let her sleep in the same bedroom. Something about his mom killing him in his sleep if he didn’t give Claire her space. But she hadn’t been offended. Because he respected her, it was his way of showing it.

As the sound of ripping wrapping paper reached her ears, Claire once again focused on the man sitting casually on his sofa. The package was thin, but not altogether light, and her apprehension grew. As more paper came off, Owen’s movements slowed. Finally, the whole gift was visible.

He sat there, staring.

For a few minutes, Claire was quiet. His fingers sporadically gripped and released the picture frame in his hands.

Claire fidgeted. Did he not like it?

These two years, she could tell that Owen missed his raptors. In the center of the frame were all four of them. Someone had shot the photo from the ground up, from the raptor’s perspective. The sun haloed Owen’s head. Surrounding it – the largest and best quality picture – were a few others: Owen riding his motorcycle with all four raptors surrounding him. Due to the night vision cameras, the photo was green and fuzzy. Another one was snapped from the security cameras along Main Street. Just before Indominus had appeared, Owen had stepped forward and touched Blue. With that picture, that one moment was immortalized. A few more were shot of Owen and the raptors when they had been smaller. In one, they’d just hatched, and Owen leaned over the egg spinner, a look of wonder on his face as a hand stroked the head of one – the raptor he’d named Echo.

Minutes passed, and still Owen sat like a statue. Claire couldn’t stand the thick silence any longer.

“The other day I had to go through all of Masrani Global’s computerized files. These were a few they had. I’m sorry some of them are fuzzy; I tried to fix the resolution as best as I could…” She trailed off once she realized Owen still hadn’t looked at her. But she swallowed and forged ahead. “I know you miss them, and I thought maybe you’d want something…” she cleared her throat nervously, “to help you…remember.”

Still Owen didn’t look at her, and her panic rose. Why had she thought this would be a good Christmas gift? Reminders of the twenty-four hours of frantic running and outsmarting Indominus were not what should be remembered on a supposedly joyous day. How callous he must think her.

And not for the first time Claire wished with all her heart she could just know what to do in these situations.

The words left her mouth before she could stop them. “I’m sorry. This was a stupid idea– ”

Suddenly, with such startling speed that it seemed to swipe the words right out of her throat, Owen stood and snatched her to her feet. Before she even had time to react his arms wound around her such controlled ferocity she spent a few moments trying to reconcile the two incompatible actions. Slowly, she slid her arms around him.

Owen had never been an overly affectionate person. Whenever he touched something, it held meaning. All the moments he’d touched her in the park had been for comfort and protection alone. Except that one moment when she had saved his life and his control had snapped. Yet only a second later and he’d reined himself in. But since they’d been living together, he’d hardly touched her. Held her hand – yes. Touched her shoulder a moment –sure. But nothing more than that. She’d had to instigate more – a kiss here and there, cuddling on the couch as they flipped through Netflix, walking into his room at night and lying next to him simply to feel the comfort of another person – especially one she cared about.

She knew why he did it. He was so sure of her, but he knew she wasn’t so sure of him. So he left her alone. He let her decide what was enough and when to continue. And she didn’t mind – she reveled in the knowledge that he wanted her to know his attraction was not merely physical. He respected her as her own person, knew how she was and how much she’d floundered to rebuild herself. So he gave her space. No expectations. Just kindness and understanding.

So as his arms continued to hold her to him, she knew without a shadow of a doubt how much her gift meant to him. 

“Thank you,” he finally said, his voice gravelly and thick with unshed tears. Her lips twisted into a water smile, and she pulled back. He followed her lead but only released her partially. His hands still gripped her arms as if she were his lifeline.

“There’s more. You missed the card.”

He nodded, slowly removing his hands. Only when he picked up the envelope did she see his hands were shaking. He looked confused only for a moment as two slips of hard paper fell out instead of a card. As he held them, his whole body started trembling.

“These are tickets.” He clenched his right hand carefully. “To Costa Rica.”

“Yes,” Claire whispered. “Maybe it’s dangerous, but I thought that you’d like to…well…try to see if Blue’s alive, I guess.”

She could see him opening his mouth numerous times, but nothing came out. Finally he managed to say, “Two?”

“Yes. I’m going with you, Owen.”

His eyes whipped to hers, and she saw everything he wanted to say but couldn’t get out. Her smile widened, vision blurring as the sight of him tugged harder at her heart.

“Once we get to Costa Rica a private boat is willing to take us to the old ferry landing. No one would fly us and I didn’t want to risk a boat with only us just in case…” She didn’t finish, but she knew he understood what hadn’t left her lips.

Owen nodded. “When?”

“A few days.”

“Claire, I…” He shook his head, his voice collapsing. 

“I know, Owen,” she murmured, trying to save him from articulating what she knew he felt.

He moved towards her again, slower this time so she could prepare herself for his next hug. She realized she didn’t have to. This whole time she’d been dying to touch him, to offer comfort, but unsure whether he’d want it or not. When he stepped closer, she erased the last breath of distance and leaned into him. She could feel the trembling in his chest, the fluttering of his heart as fast as hummingbird wings.

“Thank you,” he whispered. If she hadn’t been so close, she wouldn’t have heard it. No words passed her lips – she merely held him tighter.

She felt the rumble in his chest as he cleared his throat. “The boys called me last night.”

“I was there.”

“No, after. They called me again – later. They couldn’t sleep. They want to come and visit in a week… Just for a little while.”

Claire abruptly pulled back. “They want to be here? But Karen – she… She’s never going to let them. She told me she might not ever…” The words died in her throat.

“They asked her. She said yes.”

Claire just stared at him. “She said…yes?” She licked her lips, and when Owen nodded, the tight knot of guilt slowly loosened. “I haven’t seen them in _so long_ ,” she murmured. A disbelieving smile graced her face. Before Masrani Global’s failure, seeing her nephews after a year would have felt arduous and inconvenient. Now, it felt like ages.

She, Owen, Zach and Gray had all been on the phone constantly over the past two years. For the first three months, none of them had been able to sleep through the night. Owen had been a lifeline for them all. He had been the only one exposed to similar trauma, but when asked about it, he merely shrugged and mentioned he’d been in the Corps for a few years before transferring to the Navy. There was no singular solution, and only time would help, but together they’d helped each other heal.

The smile started from toes and glowed through her whole body. “Of course they can come. Why didn’t they call me?”

“They weren’t sure you’d really want them here. Especially since…”

She nodded. “Karen has kept them from me.” She looked back at Owen. “But we’ve visited them… And just this past Christmas!”

“It’s still different. To some people anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we visited, we were coming to her to see the boys. Now it might be similar to when they left to visit before.” He scratched his head. “I’m not really sure how else to explain it.”

“I get it,” Claire sighed. “Do you think… Do you think something bad will happen this time, too?”

Owen grinned. “Nah. So long as we don’t take them with us to Isla Nublar.”

Claire scrunched her nose. “That wasn’t funny.”

“Eh, it was kinda funny,” Owen chuckled. Claire just shook her head and tapped her forehead to his chest.

“Guess who else wants to see us? Well, me, really. She doesn’t know you.”

“Hmm?”

She hadn’t even noticed she’d tensed until Owen’s hand traced soothing circles across her shoulder blades. “Zara’s daughter,” Claire whispered. She let loose a shaky sigh as she felt Owen’s surprise.

“Your assistant?” At Claire’s nod, he continued. “She looked awfully young to have a kid. How old is she?”

“She’s almost seventeen.”

“Wow. Zara did not look thirty-two.”

“No…she didn’t.” Claire’s voice hitched. “What do I do, Owen? I can’t even think about Zara without – without…” She exhaled. “How am I going to face her? Zara was planning a wedding… _her wedding_.”

“I know, Claire. I know.” His hands soothed her once more.

“No. Zara sacrificed time with Gwen so she could work for me. Masrani Global paid her very well to be my assistant – she was the best, of course, but Masrani himself gave her extra to help cover costs with Gwen.”

“Maybe that’s why. Since you spent so much time with Zara, Gwen just wants to know her a little better.”

“But I _caused_ it all. It was my fault.”

“No, Claire. It was everyone’s fault: the public, InGen, Masrani Global. Maybe a little you and me.”

Claire snorted despite her guilt. “Your fault? You just went to inspect the paddock.”

“Then in that sense, it wasn’t your fault, either.” She sent him a look, but he shook his head. “Claire, you didn’t make the dinosaurs. You didn’t design them. You didn’t give InGen the go ahead to make them. The public wanted – what did you say?”

“Bigger. Better. More teeth.”

“Exactly. Documented, discovered dinosaurs weren’t enough. They wanted more. So Masrani takes the concern to InGen. InGen responds.” Owen let a frustrating breath out of his nose. “They never should’ve made that dinosaur.”

“No.” Claire swallowed. “I just wish…”

“I know. But we’ve been…”

“Over this before.” She sighed and her eyes met his. “Does the guilt ever go away, Owen? Does it ever lessen?”

“Yes,” he whispered. “But it depends on what happened, and who the person is. Sometimes it’s quick. Sometimes it’s not. And sometimes…the guilt never goes away. It lessens, but it’s never completely gone.”

She nodded.

For long minutes afterward, the two stayed that way, locked in an embrace, wrapping paper strewn about their feet.

“You know,” Owen murmured. “I think we should make a bet.”

“What?” Claire moved back but didn’t let go.

“Yeah – a bet.” He grinned. “How long it’ll be before Zach starts flirting with Gwen.”

“Owen!” Claire smacked him lightly on the shoulder as he cackled. “Besides, I think she’s going to be too much for him.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Her eyes twinkled as she stepped away from him. “Of course it is.”

-00-

End


	2. Isla Nublar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually looked up the plural forms of most of these dinosaur names. Whether they’re correct or not… Ugh, it’s so confusing. Yet oddly fascinating…
> 
> Started: 12/15/15
> 
> Finished: 2/26/15
> 
> Edited: 3/6/16

_Insert Two:_

Isla Nublar

-00-

Owen slowly inhaled, hardly able to believe he was back on Isla Nublar. Technically, it was illegal for them to be here, but he knew no one checked. There were no patrols around the island, and Costa Rica had officially stated that this time, they would be leaving the island to fend for itself.

Just standing at the ferry landing brought back memories. Claire exhaled shakily behind him, and he turned back to her.

“Are you sure you want to come?”

She nodded. “I’m just…still imagining it’s here. And it’s not. We saw it die.”

He looked out over the island. “But Rexie is still out there.” Owen could sense Claire’s heightened panic, and he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“But she is,” Claire said worriedly. He heard her swallow. “I don’t want you to lie to me, Owen. Not about that.”

No words would form in his mouth, so he simply nodded.

“How… How do we get to… Well, wherever it is you want to go.”

“We’ll just walk along the monorail tracks.” He squinted in the bright sun, torn between hoping Claire went with him and the desire to be alone. Owen wasn’t sure what he wanted at the moment.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” The pitch of Claire’s voice rose.

“Stick close to me,” he said, and offered her a small smile. It was all the comfort he could give her at the moment. Though her eyes reflected her apprehension, Claire gave him a small smile in return, and he felt his chest swell.

Moments like these were why he still loved Claire. She’d grown so much since Indominus had threatened more than twenty thousand people, and this right here evidenced that fact. While she was completely unsure of what they were doing, she was trying her best to be with him and support him.

“I love you,” he called quietly, and her smile widened, eradicating most of the uncertainty from her eyes.

“I love you, too,” she whispered. He saw more than heard her mouth the words, but their meaning wasn’t lessened. They stood there for a few moments, staring at each other when she said, “Go on, Owen. Let’s look for her.”

With one last fortifying breath, Owen turned and started forward. The monorail wasn’t too precarious, but they still had to be careful where they placed their feet. Claire stuck close behind him, matching his quick pace through the growing brush on either side of the rail. They’d shared a bit of banter on her choice of shoes this time – which was, thankfully, a good pair of sneakers – before continuing to concentrate on their path.

What had once been a five minute ride to the park was now becoming a two hour – or longer – walk. After walking over an hour in the hot sun, Owen was almost ready to turn back. Finally, the Jurassic World gate loomed before them, and Owen paused.

The large doors were partially askew and splintered in places, probably from a pteranodon attempting to fly through the open space. The wood had yet to show major sign of weathering since the park closed two years ago, but Owen knew it was only a matter of time. Nature may find a way, but it never ceased to amaze him what Nature could do to things – especially man-made objects. He only hoped that Blue – even some of these other dinosaurs that were the product of human engineering – had been able to survive the elements.

Abruptly, Claire seemed too close behind him. He needed space, room to breathe and process. Going through the gates meant he was committed, and he was faced with the reality of Blue’s reaction. She hadn’t attacked him after the Mosasaur had brought Indominus down, but she hadn’t been wild then. He’d hunted with her and she had protected him. But Blue hadn’t seen him for two whole years.

And suddenly, Owen realized that he’d rather have Blue tear him to pieces than for her to be dead.

He closed his eyes, hoping Claire would somehow understand that he needed some time alone because he couldn’t formulate the words. His throat wouldn’t work right, and he quickly thrust himself forward, nearly running past the gates. After thirty seconds of trying to keep up, Claire slowed, allowing him greater distance between them, and the ache in his chest eased slightly. He sent her a thanks in his head even though he knew there was no way she could read his mind.

But she’d gotten to know him better and to trust him, and they could say things to each other without words. He’d only had that with one other person – his best friend and buddy from the Navy – Barry.

He surmised another half hour until they reached the main platform at the hotels, but his head continuously swiveled, his eyes and ears alert for any sound or visual of dinosaurs. Behind him, Claire remained silent, and he was grateful. Just shy of fifteen minutes later, and Owen stopped suddenly. Close by, something smelled rotten. His body was rigid, and he felt Claire’s question once she breached his space.

“Is it…?” She swallowed. Owen shook his head. He heard her release a shaky exhale, but then saw her nose wrinkle out of the corner of his eye. “What is that smell?” 

They pivoted around, and it was Owen who spotted it first. He pointed, and once Claire saw, she gasped.

It was clear it had died recently, but the Mosasaur lay breached on the beach constructed for Jurassic World’s many visitors. In this heat part of her was bloated and other parts were ripped away.

“Oh my God. She must’ve torn through the other side of her tank… Poor Morgana.”

His throat finally released. “Morgana?”

Claire nodded absently. “All of the dinosaurs connected with the visitors’ immediate viewing were named. Rexie, as you know, is the T-Rex. You named your raptors. The Pachy in the arena were named as were the babies in the petting zoo. We – or at least the hatching managers – decided on a naming index once there were too many dinosaurs to keep track of. They’d use the first two letters of each species’ specification to come up with each animal’s name. So for the Mosasaur, she was Morgana.”

“Huh.”

“There was a sister, aptly named Morgause, in case one or the other didn’t make it.”

“They did it for all of them?” At Claire’s nod, Owen shifted. “What about ones like the Pteranodon?”

“They just stuck a ‘p’ in front of most,” she said with a wry smile. “If I remember correctly there was Ptabitha, Ptamara, Ptasha, Ptegan and Ptempest, among others. I just don’t remember them all.”

Owen scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I know. It really was. All the Pachys were named – like Patricia and Paisley. We had a few male Pachys, too: Pablo and Pacha were the main two.”

“What about the Triceratopses, Stegasauri and Apatosauruses for the gyrosphere?”

“They all had names. The Triceratopses started with ‘Tr’ like Tracy, Trixie, Tressa, Trish, Trisha…Trella. I remember a few Stegasauri – Stacey, Star, Stephanie, Stevie and Stormy. The Apatosauruses had April, Aphrodite, Appie and Apple…” A small smirk graced her features. “I remember there was one – she was the last one to hatch, but the biggest. A Hatcher had written that she must’ve been squished for a bit because her nose was a little flat as was her tail. So he named her Appa after The Last Airbender.”

Owen allowed a small smile. 

Claire continued. “Lowery and I would visit this subject almost every day. He’d rattle off the names and I’d question by their number. I hated naming them, and he disliked leaving them at a number. He thought they deserved better – were smarter than just a number.” The bit of humor vanished from her voice. “He was right.”

Before he could stop it, Owen’s next thought rolled off of his tongue. “Did Indominus have a name?”

For a moment, Claire said nothing, and pressed her lips together. “Yes, she did. We convinced Henry to wait to use it until her container became part of the attraction.”

“Dr. Wu? He named her?”

“Yes,” Claire whispered. “As of her successful development, he considered her his best creation to date. She, he said, was his masterpiece. He wanted to call her Gem.”

Owen just barely repressed his shudder. “Gem…” 

“I know.” Tentatively, Claire placed a hand on his shoulder, and the initial prick of contact annoyed him. But only a second later, he leaned into the touch, grateful once again that she was here with him despite how much he knew she now abhorred dinosaurs. He honestly didn’t blame her. Indominus was top on his list of “never see/do again” with Rexie nipping at her heels. The herbivores, while still dangerous, were much lower on his list.

If it weren’t for Blue, Charlie, Delta and Echo, he’d never want to see another dinosaur again. But he’d spent three years with those four. He had never lost sight of the fact that they were dangerous apex predators, but he missed them. The hours spent watching them and raising them and monitoring them were immeasurable. He had to know his last girl was okay. Whether she was or wasn’t, there would be closure.

“Owen!” Claire whispered, but he immediately caught the intensity in her voice. “Look!”

Out from the forest below stepped a dinosaur, glancing around before continuing its journey. Owen immediately caught sight of it near the large dining hotel directly across from Morgana’s body. And at just the right angle, an electric blue streak glinted in the sunlight.

“Blue.” She was alive.

“Wait, Owen! Be careful!” Claire called. She didn’t speak too loudly, but he hadn’t even realized he’d started jogging until her voice floated after him.

He kept running down the monorail, making it to the platform in record time before dashing through the building and out onto the concrete walkway. Blue, closer to Morgana now, spotted him effortlessly with her keen sight. They both stopped at the same time, staring at each other.

Slowly, he stepped towards her. Even though his eyes studied every line of her body, waiting for a sign of attack, he drank in the sight of her, his chest twisting. He couldn’t even begin to decide what he felt.

“Blue.” The word croaked out of his throat, but even he could hear the brokenness coating that one small word.

She opened her mouth, body rigid, and Owen stopped, hoping Blue wasn’t about to charge at him. At this distance, she’d have him within two strides before he could probably even shout to Claire. He hoped she was sticking close to the platform station.

A small rumble vibrated through Blue’s throat, the ending note escalating to a small chirp.

“Hey, Blue.”

The raptor took a hesitant step forward. He could hear her scenting the air, her eyes constantly flicking away from him and back again. Blue took another step forward.

“Owen!” Claire cried.

Blue either ignored Claire or didn’t hear her, but the redhead’s shout had caused his whole body to jolt. He barely resisted moving his head around to look for Claire. She shouldn’t have shouted like that – Blue could have reacted and torn his head off – but he understood her worry: when he had seen her sprinting from Rexie with a flare in her hand, his heart had nearly stopped.

His raptor took one more step and her nose was touching Owen’s chest. He barely breathed. She took in his smell, and he could almost see the wheels in her brain turning. He held his body utterly still, praying that deep within that smart mind of hers, she recognized him.

She chirped.

Slowly, Owen released a slow sigh as Blue simply stared at him. She chirped again, and he shakily reached out his right hand to touch her as he did just before she attacked Indominus. He was ready to take his hand away should he need to – though with her speed and precision he doubted it’d matter.

Miraculously, she leaned lightly into his touch. He let out a quiet laugh as he stroked her scaly hide, and Blue let a contented growl rumble through her chest. Owen merely swallowed. After two years alone, she remembered him. It was nothing short of supernatural.

A sound in the distance caught her attention, and she moved off towards Morgana. Quietly, Owen followed.

Morgana had obviously beached herself in search of food – although Indominus had probably lasted her a while – and now smaller dinosaurs were scavenging her remains. He knew it sounded morbid and that Claire was probably slightly sick at the sight, but it was all a part of nature. The tank was too small to hold such a large animal, and he’d known that without humans to feed her, Morgana would die sooner rather than later. He was still surprised she’d lasted this long. It couldn’t have been more than a month ago that she’d caused her own demise.

As Blue feasted, he took the time to study his only remaining raptor. She looked good, like she had kept on the pounds. She’d probably found easy prey in the surrounding paddocks of animals and it had kept her alive quite well for a while. There were herds of Pachys, Gallimimus and Ankylosaurs that she could eat. But she also had to stay away from Rexie.

InGen had bred male Pachys and Gallimimus, so they were able to reproduce. They were already prey, but the young would be prime pickings for a raptor without her pack. She should be able to survive for at least a few more years, and he prayed that she would.

He couldn’t believe after all this time, Blue was willingly turning her back on him. Predators would never do that unless they trusted what was behind them. It really was unfathomable that he was here, with a wild raptor – not like they had truly been tame before.

Quickly, he glanced back, eyes searching rapidly for Claire until he found her, standing halfway between him and the monorail platform station. Even from this distance he could see her wringing her hands. He wanted to tell her he was alright, but he didn’t want to startle Blue. All he could manage was a quiet hand signal, a mix between a wave and a calming gesture. Claire was going to kill him for what he was about to do next, but his curiosity was untamable.

Moving until he was beside Blue’s left hind leg, he reached out. Slowly, his hand touched her haunch, following the blue streak until a foot before the tip of her tail. She didn’t look back, but it flickered in annoyance. He backed up and laughed quietly.

This was simply amazing. He couldn’t believe it. Twice he had reached out to touch her, and twice she had allowed him to do it. Owen wanted to try again, but he knew that despite the popular idiom it wouldn’t be wise to try a third time. Blue was her own entity, and she had been on her own for some time now. He wouldn’t be doing either of them any favors by trying to stay longer than he had to. It was time to leave.

Owen stared at her, studying her in all her splendor, and sighed. “See you, Blue.” His throat clogged. He couldn’t say good-bye. It wouldn’t come out.

Quietly, he turned, keeping sight of Blue out of the corner of his eye. He still had to be cautious. It almost seemed as if she didn’t notice his departure, but he could just see her head flick minutely in his direction. She didn’t stop eating.

With each step away from Blue, Owen’s pace labored. He didn’t want to leave her. Once again, he felt as though he were abandoning her, but there was no way the island was safe for him with Rexie on the prowl. And there was absolutely no way he could bring her with him.

For the past two years he’d gone over and over in his head how he could possibly see Blue again. It had all come down to two facts: Blue was a dinosaur, and he loved her too much to be selfish. The US would never let her in their borders, and even if they did, where would he put her? She was a full grown raptor – he couldn’t keep her in a small enclosure. She deserved to be loose and free and to _be_ a dinosaur. Besides, if anyone ever found out she were in the US, he couldn’t begin to process the potential litigation and gawking eyes trying to take in the sight of her.

She didn’t deserve that.

It still didn’t change the fact that he didn’t want to leave her.

Finally, he pulled himself out of his reverie to look at Claire. She stared at him, head tilted and eyes filled with wonderment. His brow knitted in confusion until he realized Claire wasn’t staring at him at all.

“Owen,” she breathed.

Glancing over his shoulder, the sight nearly caused him to freeze. Blue trailed behind him, matching his pace. Her head flicked at his gaze, but she kept walking, eyes occasionally straying to watch their surroundings.

“I’ll be damned.”

“She’s following you. Oh, my God, Owen.” Claire’s disbelief mirrored his own, and he allowed a small smile to form on his lips.

When he was almost at Claire’s side he said, “Let’s keep going. I know the captain won’t be too happy if we’re out much longer.”

Claire nodded, walking next to him but still keeping her eyes on Blue trailing behind them. When they disappeared into the platform station, Blue called loudly. Without hesitation, she broke through the glass. However, once they reached the monorail tracks, Blue didn’t follow. She couldn’t. It was too narrow for her, and as they continued, she grew agitated.

Owen stopped and looked back at her. “Come on, Blue. Figure it out,” he murmured. Suddenly she disappeared, and he could hear her feet pounding on the platform linoleum. She burst out of the building and looked in his direction.

He smiled. “That’s a girl, Blue.” Almost as if she heard him – and perhaps she had – she tilted her head and walked towards him.

Claire watched, eyes wide and mouth open. “Owen, that’s amazing.”

“It is.”

The two hour walk back went by much faster than the trip inland. Though they checked regularly, it was a needless gesture – Blue followed them the whole way back. A few times something would scamper through the brush, and Blue would follow it. A couple times she caught something that looked to be a rodent, but Owen and Claire couldn’t tell from the monorail’s height. Other times, she would dart after the movement and miss.

Once they reached the dock, the boat’s captain nearly fell over once he noticed Blue hovering behind them. Claire raced forward, waving her arms at the captain.

“Stop! Stop!” she called.

But the captain paid no attention. He hurriedly attempted to start the boat, and managed to drift some feet from the platform. In a move that had Owen laughing in shock, Claire launched herself off of the dock and into the boat. She nearly took out the captain with her. He could just barely hear them arguing, but chose not to pay attention.

Blue stepped next to him. The top of her head rested a few inches above his as she drew up to her full height. She snorted, twitching one of her dangerous forelimbs, and the captain looked at her again. Even from this distance, Owen could see the captain’s face pale even further.

“She’s not dangerous!” Claire suddenly shouted.

The captain started speaking rapidly in Spanish, and when Claire answered, Owen was lost. He looked at Blue, his chest swelled. God, he loved this animal. She was an extremely dangerous apex predator, and his instincts wouldn’t let him forget it, but here she stood, watching the interlude between Claire and the captain. Her sharp eyes didn’t miss a thing, and occasionally she would tilt her head back toward the jungle, listening for danger.

 _Protecting me?_ Owen thought. It seemed the most likely option for her current behavior, and he hadn’t studied her and her sisters’ interactions with each other for nothing. But her sisters weren’t here, and of course there was no way to test the theory without someone possibly getting hurt.

Finally, he saw the captain shake his head and heard Claire’s annoyed, “Thank you.” With extreme trepidation, the captain brought the boat closer to the dock. He watched Blue the whole time, which caused him to fumble as he struggled to align the small boarding boat. Owen saw the yacht anchored a mile from the platform, and while the extreme caution was generally unneeded, Owen understood the reasoning behind the action.

Claire hopped back off the boat and neared Owen slowly. She didn’t look Blue in the eye, but stared at Owen. Her eyes watered. “It’s time to go. I just barely got the captain to make it easier for you to board. I swear Blue nearly made him wet his pants.” She laughed slightly, and it sounded hollow.

“I’m sorry, Owen,” she sniffled. Quickly, she turned and boarded. Blue watched her go. Of course, he wondered what the raptor saw as Claire departed, but he knew he’d never know the answer.

He heaved a sigh, and just barely saw Claire attempt to restrain the captain from leaving again. He looked at Blue.

“See you, Blue,” he whispered. He wouldn’t say good-bye.

Her bird-like eyes followed him sharply as he left. Quickly, before his resolve left, Owen stepped into the boat. Almost immediately, the captain gunned the motor, and the boat sped off. Owen looked back at the dock. Blue had stepped closer to the edge of the landing, staring at him as the boat took him further away from the island.

Over the noise of the motor and the water, he just barely heard Blue call out for him. His chest twisted. Claire placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked at her.

The compassion in her eyes touched him, and he leaned forward to grab her in a fierce hug. She hugged him back just as hard. Slowly, he drew back, kissing her softly. He could taste her tears, and the realization hit him again how much he loved Claire. She did not give her love to others unless they earned it, but when she did, it was a powerful thing. She loved and cared for him enough to be here for him, to cry for him. There would never be anyone else for him but her.

When he softly caressed her face and looked at her, she smiled, her grey-blue eyes bright. He pulled her into a softer hug, his chin resting on the top of her head. She sniffled again. 

“Owen,” she whispered shakily. “Look.”

He stared at her line of sight and exhaled slowly. Blue was no longer standing on the dock. “Thank you, Claire.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

They were nearing the yacht. “Yes, you did,” he said quietly.

Together, they boarded the yacht and watched the island fade.

-00-

“I’m here to talk to Dr. Grant.”

The woman in the doorway fidgeted. Behind her, a young boy, probably around sixteen, attempted to peer over her shoulder. “Who is it, mom?”

She opened her mouth, uncertain.

“I’m Owen Grady. I’m here to talk to him about raptors.”

Slowly, understanding moved across her face, but her voice was still careful. “The raptor trainer. The one that survived the T-Rex on steroids.”

Owen nodded, just barely keeping himself from snorting at her accurate description. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “I talked with him before I started working for Masrani. After that I corresponded with him about training.” Suddenly, the gears clicked in his mind. “Ah. You’re Ellie Sattler, the paleobotonist.”

“Yes,” she said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Ellie, would you stop pestering the man and let him in?” Alan Grant’s voice loudly interrupted.

Hesitantly, she stepped aside. “He’s sitting at the kitchen table.”

Owen stepped into the hallway, thanking Ellie as she closed the door. Her son watched him closely as Owen passed, his eyes alight with curiosity. The boy looked ready to jump out of his own skin.

“Come on, Chris,” she said quietly, and motioned for him to follow.

“Are you kidding?” He moved towards her and pointed at Owen as he whispered loudly, “That’s the raptor trainer. We can’t leave now! I wanna hear this!”

Owen cleared his throat. “He’s more than welcome to sit in if he’d like. You, too.”

Ellie looked unsure, but Chris darted after Owen and led him into a quaint breakfast nook. There sat Alan Grant, twisting in his chair to look at Owen. The older man smiled and stood, holding out his hand.

“It’s been a while, Owen.”

“Yes, sir, it has.”

“Well, sit down. You, too, Ellie; he won’t bite.”

She didn’t seem amused, but she sat at the table and kept her son close.

“Since Hammond opened his park, and subsequently getting caught on Isla Sorna and now everything that has happened at Jurassic World, Ellie is a little cautious.” He smiled indulgently at her. “She likes to make sure no one is attempting to catch me unawares and grab my opinion for a magazine.”

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have come if I’d known you had company.”

Alan waved a hand. “It’s nothing. Chris wants to be a paleontologist, though Ellie is very adamant against the idea.”

She huffed. “Bones are fine, Alan. It’s being around the live ones that I don’t want.”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes as he looked at Owen. “And they’re still trying to do that, aren’t they? Create dinosaurs.”

“I think so.” Owen shifted in his seat. “We haven’t heard anything about Henry Wu’s whereabouts.”

“He was the original geneticist.” Alan sat a little straighter.

“They wanted the man originally responsible for Hammond’s creation, so Masrani hired him. No one knows where he is now, but I have a theory.” Everyone stared at him steadily, and he continued. “Hoskins kept trying to sell me on the idea of raptors in the field, and I strongly disagreed with him. From what he was telling me before he died and what I saw on that computer, I think they’re going to have Wu recreate them – only they’ll be dwarfed versions of predatory dinosaurs. I think they’ll still try to use them in battle situations.”

“Oh, God,” Ellie murmured quietly.

“Humanity never learns, does it?” Alan mused.

“That’s exactly what a buddy of mine said once.” Owen cleared his throat, and shifted again. “But that’s about all I know of it. I only know what Claire has told me.”

“Right,” Alan nodded. “You were here to talk to me about raptors, weren’t you?”

“Well, wait. How do you guys know each other?” Ellie’s son Chris asked. It was the first time Chris had spoken to all three of them, and as their eyes turned towards him, he reddened.

Alan smiled indulgently at Ellie’s son. “After we were rescued from Isla Sorna, I still gave lectures at various colleges on raptors and a few other dinosaurs. Owen came to one and talked to me after, wanting to hear my opinion on raptors. I nearly took his head off. I thought he was a reporter trying to get a story. He had a notepad and everything. But he got me to talk a bit and finally told me the crazy story about a man fulfilling a dying wish and that they wanted him to attempt the insane – train a group of raptors. He hadn’t accepted the position yet, but wanted to know my opinion – if it could be done or not.”

Chris looked at Owen. “And you did it.”

Owen nodded, and a corner of his mouth lifted. “And you guys won’t believe what I’ll tell you next.” His eyes sparkled, and he smiled. “I’m sure you guys know the story, so I won’t bore you with the details.”

“Actually, we don’t know,” Alan said.

“You didn’t hear the story?” Owen tilted his head, confused.

Ellie placed her elbows on the table. “They did a huge job of covering the majority of it up. No one has said how the Indominus disappeared or what happened to the other predators on the island. Most of the visitors only knew about the Pteranodons and just a few accounts about the mosasaur eating a woman, but nothing else.”

“They would,” Owen scoffed. He quickly recounted what had happened in the hours preceding the run-in with Hoskins at the Innovation center. “Delta went after Hoskins. She killed him.”

Alan leaned towards him. “She didn’t go after you?”

“She turned her back on me to kill him. I thought afterwards that she was trying to kill the four of us, but I think she and the other two were just trying to find me.” Owen looked at Alan, begging him to understand the significance. Alan’s eyes were glassy. “I don’t think they turned against me at all.”

“How?” Chris said eagerly, leaning over the table.

“I gave it a lot of thought after the fact, and a few things kept sticking in my mind. After they communicated with the Indominus, Charlie killed one of the soldiers. I found her and she just stood there, looking at me. I even lowered my gun… She cocked her head at me like she had a hundred times in the paddock. The missile killed her then, but I couldn’t get that out of my head. Next was when Blue attacked Barry. I called after her, and she stopped mid attack and followed me. I still can’t decide whether she was trying to hunt me or was just following, but I know how crazy it gets when everyone starts shooting, and they’d never been out in that situation before. Then Delta went after Hoskins, and turned her back on me. She didn’t even glance at me, Alan. Right after we got out of the Innovation center, the three of them surrounded us. But none of them attacked. It was the craziest thing I thought of, but at that moment… I don’t know; I guess I had a hunch. I’ve always been closest to Blue, so I reached up and touched her.”

All three people at the table sucked in a breath.

“I took off the harness around her head. I touched her, and she didn’t even attack. Indominus came up then, and all three of them turned to attack her.” Owen shook his head, trying to banish the water from his eyes. “They all fought hard against Indominus. Then Claire got Rexie out of her paddock.”

Owen took a chance and looked at Alan. His eyes were sparkling with curiosity. “T-Rex fought Indominus?”

“Yes. It looked like she wasn’t going to do it, but then Blue jumped in and helped her out. They pushed Indominus towards the mosasaur tank. I don’t know how she knew Indominus was there – maybe she hadn’t been fed in a while and was hungry, but she just flew out of the water and snatched Indominus right off of the landing.”

“Oh, my god,” Ellie murmured.

“It was definitely something to see,” Owen said. “But Blue… She was the only raptor left. T-Rex left her alone, but after she left, Blue looked at me – waiting for me to tell her what to do. She couldn’t come with me. So I shook my head at her, and she left. She _left_ , Alan.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“I almost didn’t believe it myself. But a month ago, Claire bought tickets to Costa Rica, and managed to convince someone to get us over there by boat.”

“You didn’t.” Chris looked at him, clearly engrossed in the story. Owen smiled.

“I did. I didn’t find her until just before we reached the inland monorail platform. I hadn’t seen her in two years, and she let me touch her twice. Once on her head, and again on her tail.”

Alan grinned. “Incredible.”

“Then we had to go. She followed.”

Sitting back, Alan blinked, letting out a short laugh. “She followed you?”

“All the way to ferry landing. She…called for me when Claire and I boarded.”

Ellie shook her head. “That’s…”

“Awesome,” Chris answered for her. The four of them shared a quiet laugh.

“You’re the raptor expert, Alan,” Owen continued. “And considering I asked you about them before, I wanted to tell you what happened. I don’t think they ever thought of me as the enemy. Usually, in order for a challenger to win over the subordinates, they need to assert dominance over the current alpha. It happens in wolf packs, lion prides and even herds of wild horses. I never fought Indominus. I think they merely saw the other people as enemies. But when Indominus advanced on me, they were protecting their alpha. What do you think?”

“Well,” Alan started slowly. “It certainly fits within the parameters of other observable animal behavior. The raptors I witnessed on Sorna were extremely pack oriented. Once they had their eggs back, they didn’t come after us.” He considered a moment. “Besides, when we saw that baby raptor in the nursery, it feared its own kind yet appeared much more comfortable around humans. If a raptor were to be completely reared around a human, if they considered you part of the pack as well as the leader, it doesn’t sound so implausible.”

“Are you ever going to see her again?” Ellie asked.

Owen nodded. “Claire and I decided to make it a Christmas vacation every year. We’ll see Blue first, then stay in Costa Rica another day or two before heading back to the states.”

“I want to come with you this year,” Alan said forcefully.

Ellie nearly jumped up. “Alan! You can’t go with him.”

“I’m my own person, Ellie. I can go and I want to go.”

“I can’t guarantee your safety,” Owen warned. “She’s killed people; I don’t want her to do the same to you.”

Alan scoffed. “I’m not stupid, Owen.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. Even Claire stayed far away from Blue. It’s really just to make sure Blue’s still safe and alive. I _need_ to know what happens to her, no matter what.”

“And I know just how to help you with that.” Alan stood and left the table, hurrying up the stairs of his home.

“I can’t believe you told him about this,” Ellie murmured.

“How was I supposed to know he’d want to come along?” Owen defended.

“Anyone who knows him knows that Alan is still obsessed with raptors. After Jurassic Park, he swore he would never get near another dinosaur again, but then those parents tricked him into landing on Isla Sorna, and he was nearly killed by more raptors, not to mention Spinosaurus. Now he suddenly _wants_ to go back to a dinosaur-infested island where people still weren’t smart enough to respect nature.”

“It’s just one raptor.”

“Who could still kill you if she wanted.”

Owen sighed. “Yes, she could, but I don’t think she will. She’s loyal to me, Ellie. She’s protected me. Claire and her two nephews were behind me when my raptors cornered us after we left the Innovation Center. Because I was protecting Claire and her nephews, Blue, Delta and Echo protected them as well. If I protect Alan…”

Ellie shook her head and pressed her lips together. “You can’t know for sure.”

“No, I can’t.”

They both glanced up at the sound of Alan’s footsteps on the staircase and stopped talking. Eyes alight with excitement, Alan stepped into the kitchen dining room grasping something strangely shaped in his hands.

“We can use this to call her,” he said.

“What is it?” Owen asked.

“It’s a 3D printed raptor larynx. I used it on Sorna to confuse the raptors, and it helped us to get away.”

Ellie stood quickly. “Well, if Alan’s going, so am I.”

“Mom! Why are you going?” Chris protested.

“Because someone needs to keep Uncle Alan from hurting himself, and no, you cannot go with us,” she added when Chris opened his mouth again.

Owen looked at both of them. “If you’re really determined to go…”

Alan nodded.

“This is going to be a disaster,” Ellie said, but still the corners of her mouth lifted into a small smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that’s the end of it. I’m using the movies as more of a base than the books. I just recently finished the first one and am now reading the second. There are probably only a few concepts I’ll be keeping from the book but as you can tell it mostly follows the movies. Well, there’s your second installment. I’m not sure I like the part where Owen talks to Alan and Ellie, so let me know either way. If you reviewers like it, I’ll keep it. If you guys think it seems out of place, then I’ll take it out. Until next time.


	3. Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d had an idea for comedy and forgot to write it down and so… I don’t remember. Not sure if this will be a comedy, or what. We’ll see what happens when I start writing it. And as of finishing it, this came out waaaaaaay more serious than I was intending. Although, it does seem to fit in with the vibe of the rest of the chapters, so I suppose that’s good. Here’s a dose of PTSD for the win. Yeesh.

_Insert Three:_

Forest

“This is just brill.”

“Oh, shut up, Gwen,” Zach grumbled.

“Not a chance Mr. I’m-afraid-of-lightning-and-thunder.”

“Hey! Don’t talk to Zach like that!” Grey shouted.

“No way, Teeno; you’re not the boss of me,” she growled. 

“You don’t get to talk to him like that!” Zach thundered.

“Oh and you do?”

“God, just shut up, Gwen.”

“Hey, it is _not_ my fault that you got us lost in the forest.”

“But you chose to follow us.”

“So? You guys freaked out, and I wasn’t about to be left behind in that place.”

_3 hours earlier…_

“You guys think you’ll be alright, here?” Owen asked, pulling the car into the lot and stopping near the entrance.

“Yeah. It’s just the arcade. Ancient, but it’s better than grocery shopping,” Zach said. He looked at Owen. “How did Aunt Claire rope you into doing that?”

Owen chuckled. “I volunteered. She’s been having an increasingly hard time with InGen trying to sue Masrani Global over their mistakes.” Just barely, Owen’s eyes flickered to the back seat – behind him, where Zara’s daughter Gwen sat. Zach understood what Owen couldn’t say: Claire was also having a hard time with Gwen here.

He couldn’t blame her. Gwen had only been there two days, and already it felt too long. She was also almost the spitting image of Zara. Her hair was just as black as her mom’s, although cut in a shorter style. Her eyes were brown, different than Zara’s, but it didn’t stop him from seeing that pterosaur suddenly swoop down, legs extended…

Zach whipped his head back in front of him, and breathed out shakily. Now was not the time to remember. It was Grey’s birthday today – January first. At thirteen he was now officially a teenager, and Grey, being the different person he was, wanted to go to the town’s ancient, still-operating arcade. It was still styled after the ‘80s and ‘90s, and in this small town, when teens couldn’t drive the half hour to the mall, down to the arcade it was.

“Is she…okay?” Zach asked, almost afraid to know how his aunt was doing.

“It’s been tough,” Owen said quietly. Zach nodded.

“Ugh, can we go already?” Gwen mumbled, and Zach turned to her sharply. “What? It’s a stupid place to want to go, anyway. I mean, don’t you guys have video games?”

“Yeah. But it’s Grey’s birthday, and he likes arcades. So we’re here while Uncle Owen gets food.”

No one missed the bite in Zach’s voice.

Owen cleared his throat. “You ready to go, Grey?”

He nodded, but Zach could tell that Grey wasn’t his usual self. All three of them got out of the car – Gwen with a huff. Owen waved goodbye, and as the car moved off, Zach touched Grey’s shoulder.

“Hey. We’re gonna have fun, okay?” He glanced at Gwen, texting furiously on her phone and shook his head. “Don’t worry about her. It’s your birthday; it’s gonna be fine.”

“Okay,” Grey said quietly, still subdued, but Zach could tell that Grey was slowly starting to believe it. They walked into the arcade, Gwen calling for them to wait, but Zach didn’t want to listen to her. The sound blasted their ears as soon as the door opened, and Grey surreptitiously tried to grapple for Zach’s hand. Heart pounding, he grabbed for Grey, too.

It was almost too much – all of this noise. He knew Grey felt it, too – had a harder time getting over it. He squeezed his brother’s hand just before Gwen bumped into them.

“What’s the bloody hold-up?” she grumbled, stumbling back.

Zach opened his mouth, but before the words formed, Grey was tugging him.

“Come on, Zach! Let’s go to the pinball machine!”

He sent a glare Gwen’s way, but followed Grey as his brother tugged him towards the pinball game. Soon, even he was caught up in Grey’s excitement. They played one with an outer space backdrop for quite some time before Grey lost. Then, he turned to Gwen.

“Wanna do a car race?” he said excitedly.

For a moment, it looked like Gwen was going to refuse, but not even she could deny the hope on Grey’s face. Finally, she nodded. Grey hurried over to two of them, claiming he would even pay for her race. Gwen sat down and awkwardly took hold of the steering wheel.

She looked at Grey, and it was the first time Zach saw anything but frustration on her face. She looked…uncertain.

“I…I don’t know how to play,” she whispered. With her voice this low, her British accent was barely audible.

Grey smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I’m not that good, either. Zach always beats me, which is probably why he still hasn’t passed the driving test.”

Zach protested as Gwen snorted, her face finally lifting into something other than a scowl. She adjusted herself on the seat and splayed her fingers on the steering wheel.

“Well then. Let’s see if I can beat you.”

“No way,” Zach grinned, but he saw Gwen’s eyebrows lower in determination. As it turned out, amidst Gwen’s protest that the driver was on the wrong side of the car, Grey just barely beat her. Grey was jumping up and down in his seat, nearly screaming in excitement that he had finally won. Gwen smiled over at him, then sent a challenging look at Zach.

“Wanna race me?”

Zach shrugged, but he could stop the grin from taking over his face.

“Come on, Zach,” Grey said, clapping his hands on the back of the seat he just vacated. “Beat her.”

Gwen faked being offended. “Grey! That’s not nice.”

He just smiled at her. “I know. But Zach’s my brother.”

As the race started, they became the loudest trio in the arcade. Grey was screaming every time Gwen pulled ahead of Zach, and Gwen would shout that he’d never make it in time to beat her.

“You’re going to lose, Gwen!” Grey shouted.

“No way! You’re going down, emo boy!”

Zach nearly choked on his laughter. “Emo boy? Where the hell did you get that?”

“Your swoopy hair,” she said, suddenly making a sharp left turn. Zach was right behind her.

“It’s not swoopy or emo. It’s after a pop star.”

“Ah, right the ‘Beiber swoop’.” She laughed as she straightened her arm on the game’s steering wheel. “A ridiculous haircut if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask you!”

“Zach, come on!” Grey shouted.

They were in the last turn, and Grey’s outburst had distracted Gwen enough that she turned a little too wide. Zach turned inside of her, pulling even with her car. All three of them were screaming as the cars zoomed over the finish line, and Zach and Gwen sat back, relaxing. Zach turned to her.

“How’re you so good?”

She shrugged. “Played a lot of grand theft auto.”

Zach snorted. Grey tapped him on the shoulder repeatedly, saying, “I need a drink. Be right back!” He ran off towards the concession stand, and Zach looked at Gwen again.

“Why’d you make it easy for him?”

“He’s young and…” She hesitated, the pressed forward. “Different. Plus, it’s his birthday. He deserves to win.”

The smile fell from Zach’s face, but he just nodded and cleared his throat. “Well, thanks.”

Gwen shrugged again as they both stood from the seats, Zach watching Grey coming back towards them with a large soda clutched in his hands. He opened his mouth to say something when the roar suddenly filled the arcade and pounded against Zach’s ears. His heart flew into his throat as he tensed. Grey froze. When the roar sounded again, his hands shook so much he dropped the soda. The liquid sloshed over his shoes and soaked into the carpet, but neither noticed. Grey’s eyes were wide and fear-filled.

“Zach?” Gwen asked.

Her voice sounded underwater. He swallowed, reaching for Grey as his brother stumbled forward before T-Rex’s unmistakable roar once again filled the arcade. Grey fumbled for purchase on Zach’s shirt, but only seconds later, the entire building shook with two consecutive _booms_.

Before Zach could even process it, Grey was dashing for the exit. He was hot on his brother’s heels, trying to bring himself back, sure this wasn’t real and that T-Rex couldn’t have been brought to the mainland. But as the exit door burst open and the green forests greeted his vision, he couldn’t shake it. Everything around them shook again, the trees swaying and protesting, and all he could do was follow Grey’s frantic running.

After a few minutes, he frantically called after Grey, but his brother showed no signs of stopping. He tried to catch up, but Grey must have been trapped in his mind, the memories taking a full hold on him. It was only when Grey tripped and crashed face first onto the forest floor that he stopped.

Frantically calling out his name, Zach slid on his knees to a stop next to his baby brother. Sobs shook Grey’s body, and Zach was suddenly struck with how fragile his brother looked at the moment. His hands shook as he tried to turn Grey over. After checking to make sure he was okay, Zach crushed Grey close, uncaring about the fact that he was crying nearly as hard as Grey.

Slowly, ever so slowly, reality came back to him. It wasn’t just a green forest like on Isla Nublar. There was still snow, although it had been a strangely warm week for Wisconsin so most of the snow was melting. There was a bite in the air, and with a sudden shiver Zach realized none of them had jackets.

Grey’s hiccupping stopped shortly after that, and carefully, the two of them stood.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Zach asked Grey quietly.

Grey nodded.

Gwen suddenly grunted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, this is just brill.”

“Oh, shut up, Gwen.” Zach scowled.

“Not a chance Mr. I’m-afraid-of-lightning-and-thunder.”

“Hey! Don’t talk to Zach like that!” Grey quickly shouted.

“No way, Teeno; you’re not the boss of me,” she growled, taking a step towards him. Grey shrank.

Zach stepped in front of his brother and pointed a finger at Gwen. “You don’t get to talk to him like that!”

“Oh, and you do?”

“I don’t talk to him like that!”

“Hey, it is _not_ my fault that he got us lost in the forest!”

“But you chose to follow us.”

Gwen crossed her arms, her face going stormy. “So? You guys freaked out, and I wasn’t about to be left behind in that lame place. Now we’re stuck out here in the wilderness and it’s _cold_!”

“Yeah, well, you still chose to follow us out here!”

“It was thunder, you idiots!”

“Does it look like there’s a storm out here?” Zach shouted, pointing towards the sky. The few clouds that had marred the sky before had parted to allow the sun to shine. It was weak, but Zach could feel its warmth. “It’s sunny, Gwen. What thunder?”

“So? It could have been!” she said petulantly.

Zach huffed and brushed past her, walking in the direction from which they’d run. “Fine. I’m leaving then.”

“Hey! It wasn’t such a big deal, you know! Why are you guys acting like that was the end of world?”

Zach resolutely kept walking, and Gwen’s voice got more desperate. “You can’t walk away from me! I came here, after all!”

He didn’t even look back, and Gwen nearly shrieked. “Can’t even handle a bit of thunder, huh? You two are pussies! No wonder your parents are divorcing.”

Zach stopped, even though he begged his feet to continue. But for some reason, he needed to hear what she would say next. It seemed his pause gave her confidence, and her voice snapped viciously.

“They don’t want either of you. Not you or your pathetic little brother.”

The thin thread on his control snapped. “I watched your mom die!” Zach shouted, whirling around to face her and striding purposefully towards her until he was in her face.

Gwen recoiled.

“It’s called PTSD, for your information. Grey is _not_ pathetic! Things trigger us and we have no control over it! Do you think I _like_ seeing her get carted off by that flying monster and swallowed by a giant dinosaur every time I look at you?” He was dimly aware that he was panting, but once started he couldn’t stop. “You look just like her, and – and you have the same mannerisms and accent! Don’t you realize how hard it is for Mo – Aunt Claire to look at you, too? It kills her every time she looks at you, but you don’t notice that, do you? You just think about yourself and text on that damn phone all the time and look at Aunt Claire like she’s dirt. I don’t care if your dad or step-dad or whoever he was made you come; if you would just ask my aunt about her, she’d tell you! It would kill her but she’d tell you anything you wanted to know about your mom because deep down she really cared about Zara. She doesn’t always know how to show it but she cares! More than you do, at least. Do you think she would have agreed to let you come here if she didn’t care about your mom? For once would you stop thinking about yourself?”

His vision had gone hazy until a tentative touch on his hand, and his eyes whipped to his left to find Grey there, cheeks puffy and eyes watery. But his little hand gripped Zach’s, and he found the strength to pull himself out of the haze. Zach hadn’t even realized how close he’d gotten in Gwen’s face until his vision sharpened. Quickly, he backed a few steps, still breathing heavily, and leaned against a tree for support just in case his knees buckled.

They stood like that for minutes, Zach slowly calming, Grey sniffling and wiping his cheeks but still holding on to Zach, and Gwen hunched in on herself, eyes downcast. Her quiet, hitched breathing let him know he’d made her cry, but Zach didn’t feel sorry. Well, he did a little bit, but he’d been keeping it all in for the three days she had been here and he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Finally, he broke the silence. “Well?” he said irritably.

“You called your aunt ‘mum’,” she whispered.

He wasn’t expecting that, and huffed. “Yeah, well…”

Grey looked at him quickly, his voice shaky from tears but there was strength behind it. “You call Aunt Claire ‘mom’ in your head, too?”

Slowly, Zach nodded. “Have been for a while. Didn’t want to influence you, though. And… And mom, I just… The divorce… I feel closer to Aunt Claire and Uncle Owen than Mom and Dad.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Grey said, his hand still clenched tightly in Zach’s.

Zach shrugged. “You’re… You’re young and I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to…influence you because…because… I didn’t want you to think I don’t love Mom and Dad. I just…”

“Me, too,” Grey sniffled. At Zach’s questioning look, he explained. “Mom’s trying, but I feel… I don’t know. And she and Dad always ask if we’re okay and then I can’t think and I just want to see you and Aunt Claire and Uncle Owen because you all were there…” He sniffled again, trying to hold back another onslaught of tears. “Uncle Owen and Aunt Claire don’t look at us like Mom and Dad do. They don’t ask us if we’re okay. They’re just…there, and they _know_.”

“I…I didn’t know, Grey.”

“I know,” Grey murmured. “I thought it was just me, but I wondered. But…they look at us like they want us there. Like they love us. A lot.”

“Yeah. They do.” Zach looked sharply at Gwen. “Don’t even think about repeating that.”

“I think you’ve told me off enough for one day,” she murmured wetly. “I don’t fancy another lecture.” 

A few minutes passed in silence, and she looked to the side before meeting Zach’s gaze. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? Nothing like that’s ever happened to me. I miss my mom and I was pissed my dad made me come here to talk to Claire. I always thought…” She sighed heavily. “I always thought it was her fault. That if she hadn’t made Mum work… I wanted to blame her. I wanted to blame her for taking my mum away.”

Zach made a pained sound. “It was my fault. I was the one that didn’t want a babysitter and convinced Grey to run off. I was the one that persuaded him to stay out in the gyrosphere. I was the one that didn’t slow down for her. I was the one that just _watched_ …”

“No.” Grey sniffled but took a hold of Zach’s shirt. “No, Zach! You wanted to stay in the gyrosphere because of me. I know it. I was disappointed, and you didn’t want to disappoint me, so we stayed…” He trailed off, tears starting anew, and Zach closed his arms around his brother.

He met Gwen’s gaze. She had a completely different look about her, and he welcomed it. Perhaps that was all they needed – to get their frustrations and worries out in the open.

“I’m sorry for yelling, Gwen.”

She nodded. “I know.” And from the weight of her words he knew she realized that he was sorry for much more than just yelling at her.

“Thanks,” he murmured awkwardly. Grey’s tears had quieted much faster this time, so Zach exhaled loudly, unprepared, but knowing what he had to do. “I don’t think we get cell service out here. We need to get back. Aunt Claire and Uncle Owen will be worried about us.” 

“They heard the bangs, too,” Grey said, and Zach nodded.

“Come on. I don’t know if this is the right way, but we need to do something.” He started to walk forward, Grey’s hand in his right one, when he looked back at Gwen, and tentatively held out a hand. “Coming?”

She nodded quickly and hurried towards them, placing her hand in Zach’s as they made the trek back to the arcade.

-000-

When the noise shook the grocery store, Owen froze. The bread slipped from his hands and onto the tiled floor, and for a moment, his vision blurred. The blood rushed through his veins and his pulse pounded ruthlessly in his ears. His hands shook, and he feared the panic that bubbled like lava and threatened to overflow.

But something overrode the panic, the fear that clawed up his throat. They pushed through the film over his eyes and the blood that blocked his hearing. _Claire. Zach and Grey_. They were balms to his conscious, but also the things that once more caused his heart to beat frantically. They must have heard it as well.

Though they all had gotten some help, Owen had the most experience with triggers. If this had affected _him_ as much as it had… He jumped as his cell phone went off, ignoring the disdainful look of a woman pushing her cart around him. He answered without looking, but he didn’t need to. He knew who it was.

“Claire?”

“Owen! Owen…” She was babbling on the phone; panic evident in her voice made it rough and shaky and he knew she was crying. He didn’t need her to ask him where the boys were, because he told her right away they were at the arcade and to meet him there. He didn’t care about the grocery cart that he left half-full in the middle of the aisle way. He needed to get to his boys.

He jumped into the car faster than he ever had, and burned rubber on his way out of the parking lot. Claire was still babbling on the phone, but now she kept worrying if the boys were okay in between saying his name.

Forcing calm he didn’t feel, he said in a voice that still betrayed him, “Claire, I’m going for the boys. We’ll get them. I won’t hang up. I won’t ever hang up. I’ll stay on the phone until you get to the arcade.”

Her sob of relief was all he needed to floor it, praying the boys were okay.

-000-

At some point in their walk, after marveling how far Grey had been able to run, the younger boy trotted ahead of them, looking at the plant life. Zach walked with his hands in his pockets, but he wasn’t immune to the way Gwen walked close to him, occasionally bumping their shoulders when she had to avoid a tree or root. He heard her sigh.

“I’m sorry I was mean to Grey,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry I was such a…well…”

“Bitch?” Zach supplied.

She huffed and shoved him with her elbow, but continued walking close to him. “Yeah. A bitch.”

Zach shrugged. “Well, I was a dick so I guess we’re equal.” He gave her a tentative smile that she returned. After a moment of deliberation, he decided to press forward. “Grey is autistic. It’s slight; most people don’t notice it. I knew a while ago, and I was a typical mean older brother to him. Once Indominus happened… Well, it made me rethink a lot of things. So I’ve gotten pretty protective of him since then.”

Gwen nodded. “I knew he was a little different, but I get why you shouted at me when I said that to him. I shouldn’t have said it.”

They were quiet for a time, watching Grey checking out the plants when Gwen asked, “Do your parents know?”

Zach scoffed, and waited a beat for his anger to die a little before continuing. “My dad doesn’t know. He’d berate Grey sometimes for being stupid, and I didn’t realize until recently that I hated him for doing that. I didn’t know anything else, so I acted the same way towards Grey and now… I wish I’d never acted like him. I think my mom knows, but doesn’t want to talk to a doc or anything. Doesn’t want anything to be wrong so she doesn’t take him so that in a way it isn’t real. I mean, Grey does okay, but I guess I’m mad at her about that, too.”

“Is that why you’ve been calling your aunt and uncle mum and dad?”

“My therapist would probably say so.” Zach shrugged. “It’s probably true, but I know when I started thinking about them that way.”

He was silent for a few minutes until Gwen nudged him again. “Want to talk about it?” After a few more moments, she backed off. “Of course, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to feel obligated.”

Nodding, Zach gave her a grateful glance. Gwen smiled at him, and he felt his heart flutter. But he remained silent. Grey looked back and called their attention to a particularly cool-looking plant, and they both expressed how awesome it was that Grey found it. Grey darted forward, eagerly searching for more plants.

“I overheard them talking one night,” Zach said quietly. He was grateful that Gwen inclined her head towards him and just kept walking. Just waiting for him. “Aunt Claire had been worried about him in some of the therapy sessions we’d had together – it made costs for all of us easier – and he wasn’t responding the same way we all were. Not that it was bad and that people don’t deal with things differently; I know she was worried so that’s where it came from. Turns out she and Uncle Owen spoke to the therapist without us and she thought that Grey was autistic. I went down for water one night and they were talking about what they could do to help. They even discussed me for a bit – if what they were doing was working for me and if maybe they needed to do something different, give me more space or ask more questions. I’ll never forget the way their voices sounded. I had only heard my mom talk like that a few times, and my dad not really. But they were both there, so concerned for us even though we couldn’t see them as often because Mom wanted to keep us close for a while… But that’s when I knew they really cared about us. That they weren’t doing this because they felt obligated. They wanted what was best for us, and were staying up discussing us when they could be doing so many other things.”

“That’s really special,” Gwen said softly.

“Yeah,” Zach nodded. “They may not be married, but the way they’re there for each other… It’s nice to see that not everything is like my mom and dad fighting. And it’s… It’s really cool to see Aunt Claire like this. I know connecting and relationships are hard for her, so seeing the little things she does for us and Uncle Owen when he’s not looking… I dunno,” he said, suddenly embarrassed.

Gwen touched his arm. “No, I get it. It’s nice to see people doing that. My dad did the same thing with my mum. It’s why I don’t think of him as my stepdad. He’s done so much for me and Mum that he really is like my dad.”

“Thanks,” Zach murmured, giving her a smile. Gwen reciprocated, and color rose to her cheeks. Zach looked away, but couldn’t help the smile that accompanied another flutter in his chest.

“Hey guys,” Grey suddenly spoke, pointing at the sky. “It’s getting a little darker.”

“We should probably hurry. Come on. I think it’s this way a bit.” Zach grabbed hold of Grey’s hand as the three of them continued walking through the woods.

It wasn’t until about an hour later, with all of them tired and cold, that they heard voices. They recognized them as Owen and Claire, and with a burst of new-found energy, the three of them rushed forward. They shouted, too, and soon, they were running into a small clearing.

Within moments they were wrapped up in Claire and Owen’s arms. Zach held onto them both tightly. Even though he’d been pretty confident they wouldn’t be lost when it got dark, he had quietly worried that he was leading them in completely the wrong direction. With a relieved sniffle, Claire snatched Gwen into their group hug.

For a few minutes, they were all talking over each other. Claire was touching all of them – on their faces, their shoulders, pulling them into more hugs, pushing their hair out of their eyes. Owen kept a hand on Grey’s shoulder, and occasionally patted Zach on the back. Zach noticed, but smiled to himself. This was one of the reasons he loved them both. Owen knew Claire would be desperate to see her nephews, and interfered as little as possible, even though Zach could tell Owen wanted to make sure they were okay as well.

Zach was the first to break the endless stream of reassuring questions with, “What the hell happened?”

Owen huffed. “I made a few calls. Somehow managed to find out that the Air Force Base down the way had been doing some testing today and broke the sound barrier a couple times. That’s why the all the buildings shook.”

“That came after, though.”

At Claire and Owen’s questioning look, Zach explained. “While we were walking back we decided that someone had been playing a dinosaur game at the arcade. It must have roared, and right after that must have been when the sound barrier broke. We tried… Grey tried, but…”

Claire rubbed a hand on his arm. “It’s not anyone’s fault. You should’ve seen the two of us after that. I was sobbing and Owen was scared… We all understand.”

“Thanks, Aunt Claire,” he nodded.

“Nobody called the police,” Owen said. “You guys darted out there too quickly for them to recognize you, and we didn’t want your mom to worry if we could help it so we were only going to call if we couldn’t find you by the time the sun went down.”

“I didn’t have a doubt Owen could find you,” she said wetly, but Zach couldn’t mistake the trust and confidence present in her voice. 

“Well,” Owen shrugged. “I have a shopping cart sitting in the middle of the grocery store. Anyone up for shopping?”

They all chuckled, and walked hand in hand back to the parking lot.

-000-

Owen rotated the light, 3D object in his hands as he stood at the ferry landing, Alan, Claire and Ellie still in the boat. The captain was extremely unhappy, but they were paying him very well to do this. Everyone had been introduced; Claire and Ellie were still unsure about the extra people visiting Blue, but neither Owen nor Alan said anything.

Nervousness rattled through his body. Blue may have let him touch her last year, but she’d had yet another year without him. There was no way to know how she would respond.

Quickly, before he could change his mind, Owen raised the larynx to his lips and blew through it. Its sound spread out, the same as he’d heard his girls call to each other before Indominus escaped. When a few moments had gone by and no sound came back, he called again. Two more times he called, dread settling like a cannonball in his gut.

A light, faint chirp reached his ears. His head snapped up. “Blue!” he called, before raising the larynx to his lips once more. She answered, this time the sound resonating closer.

Owen took off for the monorail tracks, Alan scrambling after him. But they only got halfway up the staircase before Blue rustled through the underbrush, still too far away to see. Claire and Ellie had rushed up, but stopped as Owen and Alan returned to the platform. Just a few moments later, Blue burst into sight.

She slowed, and Owen gestured for the three of them to stay back. Chirping at him, Blue cocked her head, and Owen slowly stepped forward to greet her. She still looked healthy. It looked like she had a few new scars just shy of completely healed.

“Come here, girl,” he said softly. Blue hesitated, but only for a moment. He heard a growl rumble in her throat as she neared, and warned everyone else to stay back.

He barely heard Ellie whisper, “You’re crazy.”

But his ears searched out Claire’s soft voice, and it soothed his suddenly raw soul. “She won’t hurt you, Owen. You can do this.”

His eyes whipped to hers, and while her body was rigid, her eyes were determined. He nodded at her, and turned back to his raptor. Blue had stepped closer and now nosed him as she had the time before, sniffling his shirt as a small coo threaded through her throat. His eyes watered. This was his second time seeing her, and it took that for him to realize how much he missed his girl.

Ellie sucked in a panicked breath as he reached to touch Blue, but he ignored it. Claire was right; Blue wouldn’t hurt him. He could see it in her eyes. Perhaps it sounded ridiculous, but to those people that _knew_ animals – knew their thought processes and how they learned and understood their responses – he could see it in those eagle eyes of hers.

Slowly, his hand grazed the side of her head, and she cooed again.

“Incredible,” Alan whispered.

Owen smiled. Quietly, he spoke to Blue, whispering nonsense to her. He wondered if his absence had anything to do with her letting him touch her for so long. She didn’t flick her tail like last time. She stood quietly, but when he looked at her face, her eyes were focused on Alan, Claire and Ellie. Her muscles twitched under her scaly hide, but she made no move to advance on the trio. He wasn’t sure how long Blue stood next to him, but she was silent and patient. Yet her eyes never left the other three people.

The captain revved the motor, and Owen cursed quietly. He hadn’t had enough time! However, if they didn’t leave soon, he knew the captain would leave without them.

As much as he didn’t want to go, he knew he had to. Blue couldn’t depend on him anymore, and she didn’t have any of her pack mates to help, either. Maybe that was why this time around she stayed close to him, tolerant of his touch, but still every bit a dangerous predator.

Slowly, he backed away. He’d only gone two steps before Blue, eyes still on the three other people, bumped into him again. He chuckled, and for a small second, his raptor looked at him.

“I can’t stay, Blue,” he whispered. He knew she couldn’t understand him, but she could recognize the tones of her name. When he said it, she looked at him as she had so many other times when all four were safely in their paddock.

This time, with one last touch to her electric blue streak, he turned his back to her and walked towards Alan. The look on the paleontologist’s face was all the answer Owen needed to know what Blue was doing. One more step and he felt her breath on the back his neck. Carefully, he stopped just short of Alan, and she snorted.

“I think you guys should get on the boat first.”

Claire pulled a stunned Ellie back towards the boat, a small smile on her face. Slowly, she touched Alan, eyes on Blue, and guided him back as well. Owen walked towards the edge, knowing Blue was there behind him once more.

“Till next year, Blue,” he whispered.

She chirped.

With one last look he stepped into the boat. He stood at the stern, Alan beside him, eyes on the platform until he couldn’t see her anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's that. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Epilogue is done and will be posted soon.


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goes to show how much Owen and Blue were on my mind: look at how long ago I wrote this epilogue! More than a year!
> 
> Well, you’ve been warned: it’s tear-worthy.
> 
> Finished: 2/9/16

_Insert Four:_

Epilogue

“Oh, Blue.”

She cooed weakly.

Carefully, hand shaking, Owen dragged it over the top of her head.

For ten years now he and Claire had visited Isla Nublar. Most of the created dinosaurs had died, whether due to faulty genes or weather or predators, they didn’t know. Labs were still testing the bones and, when they could find a good one, the carcass.

Only in the past two years had the Costa Rican government officially allowed teams of well-trained men and scientists permission to discover what had happened to all the loose animals on the island. Somehow, whoever funded the project had known that both he and Claire had been making regular visits to the island. So they had asked the two of them to head the team.

Reluctantly, they agreed. He had been worried Blue would approach him surrounded by men trained to shoot first and ask questions later, but she had proved how smart she was. Owen felt her following them, but she never made a sound, and the team remained blissfully unaware.

Now, most of the Pachys had died, save for just a few females. These few the scientists were tracking with chips in their front legs for research. Surprisingly, the Gallimimus population hadn’t diminished much; however, most of the larger dinosaurs – the Ankylosaurs, Stegasauri, Triceratopses and Apatosauruses – were dead. Of the first three species, only two of each lived, and there was only one Apatosaurus still alive. However, they were all growing skinnier each time Owen saw them. Soon, there wouldn’t be enough vegetation to support them, and they would die as well.

Just last year, Claire had found Rexie. It looked as if the eight-ton dinosaur had fought with one of the remaining Triceratops and lost. There was a huge wound in her side and one long gouge along her thigh. Studying the area around her, it looked as if not too long ago, she had collapsed and been unable to get up.

Surprisingly, Claire had slowly stepped up to her and kneeled behind the great beast’s head. Respectfully, she laid a hand on the bridge of Rexie’s nose. She looked up at him, blue eyes watery.

“She was my favorite, you know,” Claire whispered. “Despite InGen’s push for scarier dinosaurs, she was always my favorite.” She sniffled. “You have no idea how hard it was to build her pen and then try to lead her into it. But she followed that flare, must have remembered the smell of smoke from her life with Hammond. She was a little malnourished, but we couldn’t believe she was still alive. She had scars from her fight with the first raptors, but there was something about her…like she knew she was the queen.” She paused a moment. “When Gray said more teeth, she was the first one I thought of. Hadn’t she fought before? She was big enough; her jaw force alone is incredible. And I knew she would follow that flare almost anywhere.”

A soft smile lit her face, and she gently patted Rexie’s head. “I’ve always had a soft spot for her. I always wished… But of course, they can’t live forever.”

Owen reached out a hand to help her up, and she accepted it. His eyes smiled at her. “I always wondered how you understood.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t really, but you had a bond with your raptors. I was just fond of Rexie.”

“Yet you willingly came back here just for me…”

Claire nodded, and looked down at Rexie. “I know it sounds stupid, but I don’t want them to find her. I don’t want her studied. She saved us. She doesn’t deserve that,” she finished quietly.

Owen placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. “We’re in charge of this sector. If we say there’s nothing, they won’t come back to check.”

She sighed in relief as they left, Claire sparing one last look at Rexie before they all departed the island.

A few weeks later was his annual visit to see Blue, and she was waiting for him at the ferry landing, just as she had been ever since the second time he saw her. She chirped loudly as the boat drew near, but he didn’t feel comforted once his eyes studied her. She was thinner, her skin duller since last year. Her eyes were clouding slightly. He’d left that time worried she would die before he saw her again.

Six months later, his skin itched every time he thought of Blue. He tried to put it off for a few days, but once he told Claire, she immediately bought two tickets to Costa Rica. As the boat neared the dock, his heart pounded in his chest. She wasn’t there. But when they drew closer, he saw her, lying on the concrete.

“Blue!” he called. Owen barely heard her chirp over the waves slapping at the boat’s sides. He didn’t even wait for it to dock. He jumped onto the platform and ran the few short steps until he was at Blue’s side.

“Oh, Blue.”

She cooed weakly.

Carefully, hand shaking, he dragged it over the top of her head. He barely exhaled. Somehow, he had known that she was dying. Her breath labored, and she blinked tiredly, her eyes almost completely clouded now. His chest contracted as he realized she could hardly see him anymore. She was more skin and bones this time around, and a few of her teeth were gone. Yet somehow, she had held on to life, waiting for him to come back to her.

One small tear fell. He sniffled. He felt Claire kneel beside him and place a hand on his shoulder, but he made no move to wipe the tear away. He was surprised once again when, just as she had with Rexie, she softly laid a hand on Blue’s neck. Even more surprisingly, Blue chirped for her, too. Claire smiled, her eyes just as watery as Owen’s.

“Thank you, Blue,” she whispered.

The two of them stayed with her until her breath rasped out once and for all. Owen’s hands twitched, but he gently brought her head closer. After what felt like hours, he sensed Claire stand, but didn’t spare a look at her until she came back, two shovels in her hands.

“Where would you like her?” Her voice broke, and Owen suddenly realized that while Claire never really had any contact with Blue, she had loved the raptor, too.

He cleared his throat, but his voice still came out strained. “Somewhere the teams won’t find her.”

Claire nodded, and immediately set out for a spot of already turned earth just north of the platform but below the monorail tracks. He followed, and nudged her with his elbow. She understood the question he asked without voicing it.

“Rexie may be the queen, but I think Blue was the princess. Here, she can overlook the ocean, watching—” She cut off suddenly, voice breaking again as she quickly dabbed at her eyes. Realizing it was useless, she continued. “She can watch for you to come back. If you ever do.”

He couldn’t say anything to that. He merely grabbed her into a hug, feeling her tears soak his t-shirt, but well aware that his own dripped into her hair. She merely hugged him tighter, acknowledging what he couldn’t say at the moment: _thank you_.

Within a few hours, Blue was buried, her head pointed towards the ocean.

There were so few dinosaurs now that the company wouldn’t be back for another two or three years – one trip a year wasn’t worth the cost. Blue and Rexie would have time to rest, the earth making room for the both of them.

The ache in his chest eased somewhat as the island sank into the distance, and he realized Claire was right. Just in case he did come back here, Blue would be there, just as she always had, waiting for him.

FIN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tear worthy? I think so. Well, that’s it for this little… Novella? Short? I don’t even know what to call it. As always, when finished reading, let me know what you think.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, how did it go, guys? If you like it, drop me a line/review letting me know your thoughts. It’ll be a three/four shot: chapter 1 is Owen and Claire at Christmas, chapter 2 is Owen and Claire’s visit to Blue, and chapter 3 is supposed to be Zach, Gray and Gwen’s comedy. There might be an epilogue. It might be tear-worthy.


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